


Inseparable

by universalwonders



Category: No Fandom
Genre: College, F/M, Fluff I guess, M/M, Multiple confessions, No Smut, One-Sided Relationship, Other, Possibly Unrequited Love, Post-High School, Slight pining, f/m - Freeform, forgotten feelings, just boys being boyfriends eventually, m/m - Freeform, mainly jacks point of view, not really slowburn, oblivious boy, possibly graysons, slightly disaster gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universalwonders/pseuds/universalwonders
Summary: a best friends to lover trope • jack falls in love with his best friend grayson their sophomore year of high school. it's now their first year of college and jack still hasn't confessed to him and grayson is oblivious. when grayson gets a girlfriend for the first time since middle school, jack has a hard time coping with not having his best friend with him all the time and not being his top priority.





	1. Chapter 1

_**august 20, 2007** _

"come on, grayson. youre going to be late for your first day of second grade if you dont hurry up and eat your breakfast," grayson's mom said to him gently. while she silently hoped that telling him he would be late would push the boy to quickly finish his cereal, grayson continued to play with the leftover bits that floated in the milk. 

"momma, i dont want to go," he said softly, "i want to go back to my old school where all my friends are."

his mothers face softened when she took another look at the pitiful looking boy, "im sorry honey, but you know that we had to move for your dads job. you were even excited to meet the new kids at school, why are you scared now?"

grayson put down his spoon and looked up at his mother. 

"im scared they wont like me," he responded. "i dont want to not have any friends to play with at recess." 

"you wont know if they will like you or not if you never go, sweetheart. you might meet your best friend today. lets just go and youll get comfortable there soon, i promise." 

"okay," grayson agreed sadly. 

"okay, now lets get your things together and head on out. were really going to be late if we dont go now," his mother said quickly, handing grayson his backpack and grabbing her purse. 

-

as they walked closer to the classroom, grayson's had gotten more nervous than he was before - if that was even possible. when they finally reached the room and walked in, he noticed how loud the other kids were and quickly shied away behind his mom. 

"oh honey, its fine, come on lets meet your teacher." 

grayson slowly moved from behind his mom, but his grip on her hand grew tighter. 

"oh hello, you must be grayson", the small older lady remarked, "im mrs. charlotte." she held out her hand waiting for him to shake. 

"go on gray, be polite and shake her hand," his mother mumbled. 

reaching out hesitantly, he shook her hand. she seemed nice, he thought, maybe ill like it here. 

"alright hon, ive got to go to work now. ill see you after school, love you," she said, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. she walked out of the room, leaving grayson with the large group of strangers and mrs. charlotte.  

"okay, okay, lets take our seats. its time to work on our cursive," mrs charlotte spoke loudly, ushering grayson to a table of three other boys. "this is lee, jack and josh," she gestured to each of the boys respectively- each saying hello to him," now boys be kind to him. he's new and doesn't know his way around yet. if he needs any help, please help him." with that, she walked away to assist the other children. 

it was three hours into the school day when it was finally grayson's favorite part of the day - recess. as soon as the bell rung everyone made their way to the door, fidgeting with excitement to finally be free and run around to their hearts content. while it was grayson's favorite part of the school day, he wasn't very motivated to play on any of the play things or even try to engage with the other kids. moving to a new school was tiring, especially for a seven year-old. grayson was messing around in the dirt with a twig when someone walks up to him. 

"hi, im jack," the taller boy spoke enthusiastically.

"yeah, i know." grayson wasnt really interested in talking to jack. he just wanted to go home to his mom. "what do you want?"

"i just wanted to know if you wanna play with me. im playing monkey in the middle with lee over there," he gestured to the other boy grayson vaguely remembered from this morning. 

"you cant play monkey in the middle with only two people," grayson said matter-of-factly.  

"i know," jack affirmed, " thats why im asking you to go play with us." 

"oh." 

"yeah..."

"ill play with you guys then," grayson responded. 

"okay, cool! come on," jack grabbed grayson's wrist and pulled him towards the other boy. 

after that day, jack always invited grayson to go play games with him at recess or to eat with him and his other friends, and grayson always said yes because he wanted to hangout with the nice boy who always included him in everything. 

by the end of the second grade, grayson and jack were inseparable and grayson decided that the move wasnt so bad as long as jack was his friend. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

_**august 28, 2018** _

" whats your name?" 

" jack."

"last name to please," the front desk lady requested. 

jack just wanted to hurry up and move into his dorm room. after spending 5 hours in a cramped car, he was ready to unpack and crash for the rest of the day, however, the move in day protocols were holding him back. how many jacks could be living in this particular resident hall for him to have to provide his last name, he thought. 

"jack williams," he stated firmly. 

"oh here you are," the lady said in a cheery voice," okay, heres your room key and a packet of things that will be incredibly useful this next week. please do not lose either one of these. otherwise you will have to pay a small fee." 

"is that all?" jack replied tiredly. 

"yes it is, good luck with the move in and have a nice day jack."

jack thanked the front desk lady and headed towards the elevator that would take him to his floor. walking in with two of his suitcases, he pressed the button for the fourth floor. hopefully his parents would be able to bring some more of his things to his room, he thought. while he was in the elevator, he worried about whether or not the school had actually paired him up with grayson. they requested each other but were unsure if they would be able to room together this year. 

reaching his dorm door, he was nervous. even if grayson wasnt his roommate he would still see him around campus. he wouldnt mind having a different roommate. normally he would be excited to meet someone new and try to be friends with them, however, he was too tired to try and make friends with the possible stranger at the moment. shaking away the nervousness, jack swiped his room key and opened the door. 

"jack," was all that jack heard before he was tackled to the ground. 

"hey buddy," jack said, laughing lightly. "how was it in rome these past couple weeks?" he asked as he untangled himself from his best friend. 

"oh you know, it was pretty good. just a whole lot of touristy stuff," grayson replied quickly, trying to help his friend up. "how was your past couple weeks, meet any cute dudes while i was away?" grayson winked. 

"no, no cute guys. i just worked my ass off the last weeks of summer."

grayson made a sympathetic face, "thats rough buddy. you couldve went to rome with me, you know."

"no gray, i couldnt have. i had to make sure that all my stuff for school was paid for, dummy." jack teased. 

"hey," a displeased grayson spoke loudly and quickly, "theres no reason to be calling people names. also, i actually forgot you had to pay some more for school. i thought you had already done everything." 

"nah, i switched shifts with people so i could hang out with you before you left," jack responded while putting his bedding onto his bed. 

"you didnt have to, i wouldve seen you when i got back."

"yeah, yeah i know but i wanted to. now lets hurry up and get this room done so we can grab something to eat and i can take a nap." 

grayson nodded and got to work on his side of the room. by the time the boys' parents got up to their room most of their bedding and clothes were situated and all they needed to do was to put stuff up on their walls so they werent so bare. grayson decided to put up some picture from when they were younger til now and jack decided that having dark and light tapestries hungon his walls was the way to go. 

grayson and jack finished decorating their room just before five oclock and it was getting to the time were the parents had to leave. 

"are you going to be okay here by yourself, honey" graysons mom asked nervously. 

"yes mom, ill be fine. im not a little kid anymore, i can handle things myself." grayson replied indignantly. 

"yeah, mrs. reed, gray will be fine. he has me around to take care of him," jack said while roughly messing with graysons hair. 

"guys, i can handle myself. im an adult now." 

"sure you can buddy, sure you can." 

jack said goodbye to his parents, giving them one last hug until he saw them over fall break. their parents finally left and the boys collapsed on their beds. 

grayson decided to speak after a few minutes of silence, "this is going to be one hell of a ride, isnt it."

"yeah," a tired jack spoke. 

"im glad we decided to take in on together."

jack spoke softly, "yeah, me too." 


	3. Chapter 3

_**september 29, 2018** _

 it had been a month since jack and grayson had moved into their dorm room and it was almost time for fall break. the boys were excited to go home, but equally as nervous. they didnt have much time to dwell on the fact they were going to do a complete 180 by going home after being completely independent; they were a little over a fourth of the way done with the semester which meant their first big exams were coming up. this brought a whole new level of stress for the two boys. 

jack walked up the hall towards his door, carrying his clean canvas and supplies, when he heard objects moved around the room forcefully. slightly worried, jack unlocked the door and started into the room only to see grayson partially rearranging and cleaning up his side of the room. 

"hey, man... whats going on," jack asked cautiously. 

"im having a couple people over tonight to study for this stupid philosophy exam monday and i cant have them over with the room looking like this," grayson grumbled as he gestured vaguely around the room. 

"do you want some help? what time are they coming over?" 

"around 6PM."

jack looked down at his watch and realized they only had 15 minutes until whoever grayson had invited over showed up at their door. 

"okay you have about 15 minutes to get everything sorted out and i dont think youll get it done in time so ill help you out some just let me know what you want me to do." 

grayson nodded, "right. so i was thinking you could take out the trash and hide the laundry."

jack took one glance at the overflowing basket and groaned, "are you serious?"

"so serious." 

"fine, who all is coming around anyway." 

grayson quickly perked up, "some of my friends from my philosophy lecture. i think youll like them, theyre all nice and funny." 

how did he make friends so quickly, jack thought,  it normally takes him a while to warm up to people. grayson saw the confused looked that was displayed across the other boys face. 

"why are you making that face."

"what face? im not making any face."

"yeah, jay, you are. you looked very confused."

"no, no i was just wondering who they were. i thought you were going to tell me their names thats all." 

"ah, well theres laine - hes a biology major as well which is kind of exciting. then theres may who is a business major, and then there is alex - who is a psychology major and someone i think youll like." 

jack narrowed his eyes, "are you trying to set me up."

a look of feigned shock appeared on graysons face. "i would never try to set you up with some random guy who is interesting and kind of attractive. that would make me a terrible friend." jack groaned as grayson laughed lightly. 

"you know i dont want a boyfriend right now," jack stated. not unless theyre you, he mused. "i just want to focus on school right now, you know? maybe next semester. after ive got the feel of this." 

grayson sighed, "all right, but at least pay attention to him alright? hes one of the only openly gay dudes ive met on campus and i just didnt want you to be lonely." 

"why would i be lonely i have you to hang out with, along with some friends from my art classes. also, gray, i dont need you finding other guys who like guys for me - i got it."

"well, i asked out may from my philosophy class and she said yes, and i was just thinking that if we started dating you wouldnt want to be a third wheel - that you would want someone to date or see too." 

"oh, thats uh, kind of you then. i guess. lets hurry up and finish this, yeah?" jack said with a tone of finality. 

"yeah, okay." with that, the boys began to finish the tidying of their room. 

6 oclock came around faster that the boys that it would. a couple knocks were heard at the door had sent grayson rushing to the door. may, laine and alex walked into the room and took a look around. before any of them could talk, grayson quickly began introducing everyone. 

"hey jack, come here!" grayson yelled down the hall to jack who was borrowing some paints from a girl in his art class. 

"im coming, im coming." jack jogged down the hall, finally reaching the door a little out of breath. "whats up?" 

"theyre here and i want you to come say hi," grayson said pulling jack into the room. when jack was finally settled into the room grayson began his introductions. "okay so, this is may, laine and alex - the people i told you about earlier," he reminded jack. jack nodded at him and turned towards everyone. 

"hi guys, im jack. graysons best friend." jack waved and went to go work on his painting for his watercolor assignment that was due by the week of the week - that he still hadnt started on. 

"youre staying?" 

jack looked over confused, "yeah. all my supplies are in here and i dont feel like walking all the way to the library or the art department."

"oh i just thought you would want some quiet space or something."

"no im fine." and with that, everyone set out to study or work on whatever they brought to work on during the study time. fifteen minutes into the study session, jack wishes he had just took his work to the art department. every time he looked up he would see grayson flirting obnoxiously with may or he would make eye contact with alex. he didnt want to leave after he had already said he was fine with the noise and he didnt want to give himself time to feel sad about grayson and may. he knew that they werent going to be together to he just repressed the feelings of jealously and saddness deeper. he also didnt want to continue to accidentally lock eyes with alex anymore.

 he finally decides hes just going to sit at his desk, facing away from the people in his room. moving all of his brushes and paints over to the desk, he didnt realize that grayson had sent alex over there to keep jack company until he heard footsteps behind him and someone sit next to him. 

"hi," alex said quietly. 

"hey."

"what are you working on? it looks really neat so far," alex inquired. 

"its some watercolor assignment for a class im taking. its not the must fun thing i could be working on currently."

"oh thats really cool and it seems fun honestly."

"you think its fun until its worth 40% of your grade," jack grumbled. 

jack and alex continued to talk until the study session was over. they talked about jack classes and his major, as well as alex's classes and major. they had a lot more in common than he originally thought they would. by the time everyone started packing up their things, jack was not even close to being finished with his assignment and alex had not worked on one piece of what he brought to study. grayson had hugged may and waved laine goodbye and goodnight and alex was almost completely out the door when he turned around suddenly. 

"you were really nice to talk to and i would like to talk to you again sometime. maybe over coffee?" alex asked nervously. 

jack thought for a moment. alex wasnt terrible company and seemed kind of interesting to say the least,  plus he was cute. he didnt want to think that maybe alex could be the one to help him get over grayson but it was a very big possibility. "yeah id like that," jack finally responded. the tension in alex's shoulders released and he gave jack a small smile. 

"does that mean i get your number?" 

"yeah," laughed jack," that means you get my number." they traded phones and quickly put each others numbers in. "just message me whenever you want to meet up, okay?"

"okay, goodnight jack," alex waved and left, closing the door behind him. 

jack turned around to see a smirking grayson. "shut up."

"i wasnt going to say anything," grayson said as he raised his hands in mock surrender. 

"yes. you were. you were going to say i told you so. im only going out with him as a friend. sure hes cute and interesting but im not looking for a boyfriend right now. plus hes not my type," jack quickly explained before his friend could get the wrong idea. 

"okay, well what is your type then huh?" 

you, jack thought. "i dont know shorter and kind of athletic i guess. i just dont see myself dating him."

"okay, whatever you say buddy", grayson laughed getting ready for bed. he had changed and turned out the light before settling into bed. "give him a chance. thats all im saying. you might end up liking him, he doesnt have to be your type to give him a chance."

jack curled up into his bed, as he tried to get comfortable before he responded to grayson. "i guess youre right. i might try it. goodnight gray." 

"goodnight." 

jack picked up his phone and opened up his messages to talk to alex. 

**hey, alex. i know i said to text me but i just remembered a nice cafe up the street from my dorm and wanted to know if you wanted to go on sunday around 11:00?**

**_hey! yeah id love to just send me the directions or we walk together?_ **

**walking sounds like a good idea. see you sunday :)**

**_see you sunday :)_ **

jack laid his phone down on his desk and tried to sleep. jack hoped that he'd get over grayson soon because the memories of him flirting with may from earlier that evening were running around his head before he finally fell to sleep. 


End file.
